California Case Summaries

Labor & Employment Law

Primary practice area

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law

Civil Rights Department v. City of Torrance — Employer asserting Fair Chance Act compliance waives attorney-client and work product privilege over individualized assessment documents

automatic / October 27, 2026

The Court of Appeal affirmed the superior court's order compelling the City of Torrance to produce documents related to its individualized assessments of job applicants with criminal histories, holding that by asserting compliance with the Fair Chance Act as a defense to the Civil Rights Department's investigation, the City waived any attorney-client and work product privilege claims over the underlying assessment documents.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Labor & Employment Law

Villasenor v. Schneiter — FEHA Does Not Presume Corporate Owners Are Alter Egos

automatic / October 26, 2026

The Second District affirmed and held that FEHA does not alter the common-law presumption of corporate separateness. FEHA contains no provision addressing alter ego liability or judgment enforcement, much less the clear and unequivocal statement courts expect before concluding that legislation displaced a settled common-law rule. The direction to construe FEHA liberally and provide effective remedies was not enough to create a new presumption.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

Trona Teachers Association v. Trona Joint Unified School District — Former Teachers Entitled to Retroactive Contract Pay

automatic / October 26, 2026

The Fourth District reversed and directed issuance of a writ requiring payment. Nothing in the collective bargaining agreement limited the retroactive increases or stipends to employees who remained on staff when the board approved the deal. The benefits were tied to service during the covered school year, and the former teachers had performed that work. Reading an unwritten continuing-employment condition into the agreement would create unequal compensation among equally qualified teachers for the same period of service.

5th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Castillo v. Belkorp AG, LLC — Court of Appeal affirms denial of arbitration, holding an aggrieved employee may bring a PAGA action consisting solely of nonindividual claims

automatic / October 23, 2026

The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's denial of Belkorp's motion to compel arbitration, holding that an aggrieved employee may bring a PAGA action consisting solely of nonindividual claims without also asserting individual claims.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Molina v. Triumph Residential Services — Mandatory Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable When FAA Does Not Apply

automatic / October 22, 2026

The Second District affirmed denial of arbitration. The Legislature added the FAA language in an attempt to avoid federal preemption; it protects only agreements that are actually enforceable under the federal statute. When the FAA does not apply, ordinary California contract principles remain in force, including the rule that courts will not enforce a contract that was illegal to form. A section 432.6 violation can therefore make a non-FAA arbitration agreement unenforceable.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Slamer v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group — Voluntary Dismissal With Prejudice Strips Trial Court of Power to Order Workers’ Compensation Lien Reimbursement

automatic / October 21, 2026

The Court of Appeal reversed an order requiring plaintiffs to reimburse an employer's workers' compensation lien because the trial court lost jurisdiction when plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the entire action with prejudice before the employer moved for reimbursement.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Whitfield v. Mullin — Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Rehearing, Leaving Its “Serious Questions” Injunction Test in Place Over Ten Dissenting Votes

automatic / October 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc in a Rehabilitation Act case, leaving in place a panel remand that invokes the circuit's "serious questions" sliding-scale injunction test, while ten judges dissented on the ground that the test conflicts with Winter and Starbucks.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law

McInerney v. Regents — Fair Chance Act Requires Process, Causation, and Actual Harm

automatic / October 13, 2026

The trial court concluded there was no triable issue of material fact as to whether UCLA followed the procedure set forth in section 12952, subdivision (c)(1)(A), which requires an employer to make an 'individualized assessment' of whether the applicant's conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job that justify denying the applicant the position.

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